"Tell me again why I have to do this?" Naruto asked his sensei Jiraiya. The older man smacked his forehead once more.

Naruto and Jiraiya were standing at the edge of a large river next to a raging waterfall. It was hot this day and that only seemed to add to Jiraiya's frustration. Naruto was trying, futilely, to blow up a water balloon with his chakra. Jiraiya had already explained it to the boy, but he tried again using different words.

"To fully use the Rasengan, you need to know how to mold the chakra properly, add the right amount of force, and then learn to sustain it. This is the first step. To burst the balloon you have to learn how to spin your chakra," he said, using careful wording and slow speech. Naruto wasn't dumb, per se, but he was a tad bit slow on the uptake, so Jiraiya was halfway fed up with this whole 'mentoring' thing. But he had faith in this boy; he had an air about him. One of determination and endless courage. That, and the boy's heritage and striking resemblance to Minato helped.

Realization dawned across Naruto's face. "Oh! I get it now! This boring, menial crap is just practice for the better thing to come!" Naruto grinned. Jiraiya gave the thumbs up. He felt the pride well up in him as he looked at his god son happily.

"That's the idea! Now get to it!" He yelled, vanishing in a puff of smoke and swirling leaves.

"Let's do it!" the boy shouted, throwing his hand up in the air. Enthusiasm restored, he set about his task again with renewed vigor.

He quietly slid open the door to Hyuuga Hinata's hospital room and crept in. It was cool in the hospital room and he was grateful to be out of the sun. But the smell wasn't pleasant as antiseptic and the sharp scent of blood pierced the air. He once again took a seat next to her bedside. She was pale, deathly so, but he tried to not to let it get to him. Her hair splayed out around her in a fan as she lay motionless, but still breathing.

"Hey Hinata-chan," he said, smiling gently as he did every day, as he had every day for the past week, "I've been learning how to do the Rasengan, my father's prized jutsu. I think I'm starting to get it, more and more each day," he said grinning weakly.

His mind slipped into another reality. He could almost imagine her face flush like it always did, her shy smile, and her stuttering reply, 'T-that's gr-great Naruto-k-kun,'

But she didn't smile or blush and he just sat there in silence for a minute.

"Hinata… why didn't I see you before?" He asked himself sadly. One lazy eye opened from inside the jail cell of Naruto's mind. Kyuubi, from behind the spiritual iron bars that held him in, snorted.

"You were too busy watching that Haruno girl to notice the white-eyes, kit," he said derisively. Naruto shot a glare at the demon.

"Yes, Kyuubi-no-baka, I noticed that," he spat. Kyuubi shrugged his giant shoulders sarcastically.

"Sorry," he drawled, "you asked," he pointed out condescendingly. Naruto turned away in anger.

"Doesn't mean you have to answer," he snarled.

Kyuubi's reply was cut off by the door opening sharply to show Jiraiya standing there with a gentle expression. The blond jinchuuriki gazed up at his mentor with questioning eyes. The old man heaved a sigh and took a seat on the windowsill, staring out vaguely at the setting sun. It painted red and gold across the sky.

"Naruto," he started slowly, "it seems to me that you feel something for this girl," he pointed out. Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously and shrugged.

"Why wouldn't I like her? She's smart and sweet and shy and nice to me," he told Jiraiya deliberately and clearly. Jiraiya sighed again and beckoned Naruto over. The boy gave a grudging look, but came over anyway. He was met by an arm being slung around his shoulders.

"Naruto," the old man started again, "I want you to ask yourself why you think these things about her," Naruto opened his mouth to object but Jiraiya held a hand up, "Think very carefully. Is it because you truly think these things and she truly possesses them, or is it because she likes you? You Naruto, you've been alone your whole life, never feeling any emotion of love from an outside source. This is your chance, Naruto. This girl, you now know that she's had feelings for you for years. And I know that you don't want to screw it up, but don't think she's something that she's not. I've seen many cases on my travels of people so enamored by feelings they can't control, that they bestow traits upon the person that they are feeling these feelings for. Don't let it do that to you, Naruto. You're going way too fast, boy. Feelings don't grow in a day. She is what she is. She loves you, but she's not perfect. If she loves you then she also knows that you're not either. And she doesn't seem to care," he smiled, drawing the boy in for a hug.

During the speech, Naruto's eyes had grown wider as the pervy sage tried to falter his logic for liking Hinata. But, then he re-evaluated his feelings.

Ero-sennin was right, people's affection didn't foster in one day and one night. He furrowed his brow in thought and came to a conclusion.

For the time being, he'd be Naruto: dense, loud, and persistent. And she could be Hinata: shy, quiet, (for now) comatose, and caring. He realized that he didn't even have to tell her that he knew. The blond boy decided that he'd just sit back, be himself, let her be herself, and let nature take its course.

Sure, he was still going after Tsunade, and he was still going to kick Neji's ass in the finals, but he didn't have to marry her. He'd just wait until he felt the moment was right, until he knew that his feelings were real, to lift her onto his shoulders and carry her away with him.

And then everyone would be happy.

Jiraiya smiled as he saw the realizations slink across Naruto's face. He thought that the boy really didn't have the disease that he'd described that badly, he didn't seem to think that this 'Hinata' was everything and more; just that she was more than she was before.

"Well, Naruto," he said loudly, jolting Naruto out of his self-contemplation, "if you're going to finish that Rasengan before the Chuunin matches at the end of the month then you better get on it!" Jiraiya declared before poofing away. Naruto pumped his fist in to the air.

"Yeah!" he shouted. His eyes fell on Hinata and they softened. Making his way over to her bed he whispered goodbye. He kissed Hinata tenderly on the forehead and exited quietly.